›› 2015, Vol. 42 ›› Issue (9): 2345-2351.doi: 10.16431/j.cnki.1671-7236.2015.09.020

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Effect of Alfalfa Flavonoids on Growth Performance and Serum Indexes of Sheep

WANG Meng-zhu1, LIU Yan-feng1,2, WANG Wen-qi2, NIE Cun-xi1, TANG Shu-zhen2, ZHANG Wen-ju1   

  1. 1. College of Animal Science and Technology, Shihezi University, Shihezi 832000, China;
    2. Feed Research Institute, Xinjiang Academy of Animal Science, Urumqi 830000, China
  • Received:2015-03-03 Online:2015-09-20 Published:2015-09-25

Abstract: This experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of alfalfa flavonoids (Medicago sativa) on growth performance and serum indexes of sheep.This experiment was performed with hybrid F1 sheep of Suffolk sheep×Small-tailed Han sheep.Twenty-eight sheep with the body weight of (27.02±3.03) kg were randomly divided into 4 groups with 7 replicates in each group and 1 sheep per replicate.Sheep in different groups were fed diets with 0 (group Ⅰ), 0.1% (group Ⅱ), 0.2%(group Ⅲ) and 0.4% (group Ⅳ) alfalfa flavonoids, respectively.The experiment was cosisted of 7-day-preliminary trial and 41-day-formal trial.The results showed as follows:① Dietary supplementation of alfalfa flavonoids had no significant effects on growth performance of sheep(P>0.05).② Dietary supplementation of alfalfa flavonoids had significant effects on the contents of GLB, ASP, BUN, HDL and P in serum (P<0.05).Serum GLB content at the 1st day in group Ⅲ was significantly lower than that in groupsⅠand Ⅱ(P<0.05), serum ASP contents at the 1st and 21th days in group Ⅳ were significantly lower than those in group Ⅰ(P<0.05), serum BUN content at the 1st day in group Ⅳ was significantly lower than that in group Ⅰ(P<0.05), serum HDL content at the 21th day in group Ⅱ was significantly lower than that in groups Ⅰ and Ⅲ (P<0.05), serum P content in group Ⅳ at the 21th day was significantly lower than that in groups Ⅱ and Ⅲ (P<0.05).In conclusion, dietary supplementation of alfalfa flavonoids might modulate lipid metabolism, improve nitrogen utilization, maintain energy metabolic and balance Ca and P contents, and have the potential function for promoting growth and no adverse effect on liver.The results suggested that the appropriate supplemental level of alfalfa flavonoids for sheep was 0.2%.

Key words: alfalfa flavonoids; sheep; growth performance; cholesterol; serum indexes

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